City leaders in Garden Grove – home to parts of Little Saigon – may finally issue an official response of sorts to the widespread deportation sweeps that have rocked Orange County since June.
It comes as there’s been consistent public pressure from residents – and some council members – to take a stronger stand.
At their 6:30 p.m. meeting on Tuesday, city council members are expected to consider a resolution reaffirming that local police officers do not participate in federal immigration enforcement and recognizing the fear felt by residents amid an increased federal law enforcement presence.
The resolution comes at the request of Councilwoman Ariana Arestegui, but does not explicitly condemn the immigration raids that have upended the lives of many immigrant families in the greater Southern California region.
To read the full resolution, click here.
Arestegui said the resolution was first adopted in 2017 amid President Donald Trump’s first term and received bipartisan support.
She also said it was important to show residents they are being heard, to acknowledge the impacts the sweeps have had on businesses and schools and because Garden Grove is home to a large immigrant population.
“These raids have impacted East Garden Grove in particular and as a lifelong member of this community, it really does pain me to see the anxiety that my neighbors and my family members and my friends have,” Arestegui said in a phone interview Friday.
She along with fellow councilwoman Yesenia Muñeton issued a statement on social media raising concerns about the deportation sweeps shortly after they first ramped up in June.
“As councilmembers and daughters of immigrant families, we believe all residents deserve to feel safe and treated with dignity. Raids in neighborhoods, schools or workplaces do not build trust or promote public safety,” reads the joint June 9 statement.
The resolution comes on the heels of border patrol agents apparently detaining day laborers at a Home Depot in the city earlier this month despite a court order temporarily barring federal agents from detaining people solely based on factors like race or place of employment.
It also comes after a parent – who is a U.S. citizen – was wrongfully detained near a Garden Grove Unified Elementary School last week for about an hour forcing the school to go on a lockdown and leading the district to deploy support staff like counselors to the campus
[Read: Deportation Sweeps Pick Up Steam Again in Orange County]
Meanwhile, dozens of residents have shown up to the last two city council meetings demanding elected officials take a strong stand against the immigration raids and launch a fund to support Garden Grove families impacted by the raids.
[Read: ICE Raids Spur Calls for Community Aid in Another Orange County City]
“Whether you help the community or not, this administration will target you for something. But during your next election campaign, you will not be able to say you stood up for immigrants because we all know you have not,” said Courtney Cook, a resident, at the Aug. 12 city council meeting.
“You have left all the labor to the community, students or neighboring cities, while standing in the way of resources that we could use to feed residents or keep them in their homes.”
Anthony Fish, a math teacher in Garden Grove Unified School District, said he was disappointed that officials haven’t responded to the ICE raids.
“The best time to act would have been months ago. The next best time to act is today,” he said at the Aug. 12 meeting.
“Your silence is complicity. You are fine with what’s going on and if that is not true prove me, everyone in this room and everyone in this community who is terrified every single day to leave their home wrong.”
City council members said they’d like to have a thorough discussion about the issue – including any legal liabilities – before pitching any policy ideas after a group of residents first showed up to the July 8 meeting urging elected leaders to take action.
They also publicly said they recognize the fear in the community, but immigration enforcement is a federal issue and their hands are tied because they have to comply with the law.
[Read: ICE Raids Spur Calls for Community Aid in Another Orange County City]
Nothing related to deportation sweeps was agendized when the city council finally met again on Aug 12.
Arestegui said she knows the resolution will be seen in one of two ways.
“On one end, there are going to be people that don’t think it’s going to go far enough, and on the other end, there are also going to be people who say that this does too much and that it’s going to draw negative attention to our city,” she said.
At the same time, the councilwoman said the resolution was the bare minimum action the city could take, but believes it is something all of her colleagues can agree on.
Arestegui also said she and Muñeton for the last several months have called on their colleagues to discuss the issue and share their opinions with them.
“At the end of the day, any action taken by Garden Grove City Council will require a majority of approval by the rest of my colleagues, and if we do not have the support from our other colleagues, well then our ability to push any policy or action forward is limited,” Arestegui said.
In Garden Grove, about 49% of residents or roughly 84,000 people are foreign born. Of that, about 31,000 of residents are not U.S. citizens and 53,000 are naturalized citizens, according to the census.
Over 42% of the population in Garden Grove is Asian and 37% is Latino.
How Has Garden Grove Responded So Far? How Have Others?
In July, Arestegui along with Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein and Councilwoman Muñeton wrote a letter to Congressman Derek Tran asking for transparency on the raids as well as resources to reassure residents and help them get food.
At the last two meetings, Arestegui also raised questions to the city attorney on how the city could respond to the sweeps and what impacts that response could have on Garden Grove.
Garden Grove City Councilman Joe DoVinh said that local leaders have asked members of congress for a list of people detained in Garden Grove by the sweeps.
“If we do not comply with the federal mandates and the federal laws, we may lose our grants and we may be prosecuted for certain violations, which I do not want to take that chance. We have too much to lose,” DoVinh said at the Aug. 12 city council meeting.
“It doesn’t mean we’re not pushing back against ICE.”
Meanwhile, the Garden Grove Unified School District has been partnering with different organizations to host Know Your Rights webinars, distributing Know Your Rights information and helping families develop an emergency plan in response to the deportation sweeps.
They also have created a hotline to help respond to families’ needs.
In a joint statement last week, the community group VietRise and Garden Grove Unified School board trustee Walter Muñeton – Yesenia’s husband – called on city leaders to follow the district’s lead following the detention near the school.
“Our local elected officials should take note of the district’s leadership and quick response by standing with us and reaching out in partnership, to show they are taking our community’s well-being and safety seriously,” reads the statement.
Other Orange County cities are taking a stronger stand against the deportation sweeps and looking to challenge them in court by joining or supporting a federal lawsuit alleging federal immigration officers are racially profiling people to make warrantless arrests.
Santa Ana, Anaheim, Irvine and Fullerton either voted to join the lawsuit against the ICE raids or are looking at supporting the legal efforts to end the raids through what’s known as an amicus brief.
Costa Mesa City Council members are expected to consider signing onto the legal challenge spearheaded by the ACLU at their next meeting.
Officials in Anaheim, Santa Ana and Costa Mesa have also allocated hundreds of thousands of dollars towards funds aimed at supporting immigrant families impacted by the federal immigration deportation dragnet.
Last week, Santa Ana leaders approved a $250,000 contract to renew their immigration legal defense fund meant to support residents facing deportation as leaders in Costa Mesa are expected to contemplate a similar fund.
Arestegui said she would like to get more input from staff about starting similar funds and see if they can afford it.
“I wish a lot of things, but we’re in the political realities that we’re in,” she said.
“We work with the hand that we’re dealt to the best of our ability.”
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.